The present invention relates to a composite thermal transfer sheet, and, more particularly to a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet wherein a thermal transfer sheet is temporarily bonded to a transfer-receiving material such as paper and, a sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet.
Hitherto, in a case where output from a computer or word processor is printed by a thermal transfer system, there has been used a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof.
Such a conventional thermal transfer sheet comprises a substrate film comprising a paper having a thickness of 10 to 20 xcexcm such as capacitor paper and paraffin paper, or comprising a plastic film having a thickness of 3 to 20 xcexcm such as polyester film and cellophane film. The above-mentioned thermal transfer sheet has been prepared by coating the substrate film with a heat-fusible ink comprising a wax and a colorant such as dye or pigment mixed therein, to form a heat-fusible ink layer on the substrate film.
When printing is effected on a transfer receiving material by using such a conventional thermal transfer sheet, the thermal transfer sheet is supplied from a roll thereof, while a continuous or sheet-like transfer-receiving material is also supplied, so that the former and the latter are superposed on each other on a platen. Then, in such a state, heat is supplied to the thermal transfer sheet from the back side surface thereof by means of a thermal head to melt and transfer the ink layer, whereby a desired image is formed.
However, even when the above-mentioned conventional thermal transfer sheet is as such intended to be used in a facsimile printer using a conventional heat-sensitive color-forming paper, the thermal transfer sheet cannot be used in such a facsimile printer since the above-mentioned recording paper per se develops a color under heating and the facsimile printer does not include a conveying device for a transfer-receiving material. Such a problem is also posed in a special printer such as large plotter.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, there has been proposed a method wherein a thermal transfer sheet and a transfer-receiving material are temporarily bonded to each other in advance and wound into a roll form so that the thermal transfer sheet may be adapted to a facsimile printer or the device used therefor may be simplified or miniaturized (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2628/1983).
Such a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet, is required to have various performances such that the thermal transfer sheet is tightly bonded to the paper so as to provide no wrinkle or deviation, both of these are easily peeled from each other after thermal transfer operation, the ink layer is exactly transferred to the paper in the transfer region, and the ink layer is not transferred to the paper at all in the non-transfer region so that the paper is not contaminated. However, the conventional composite-thermal transfer sheet does not fully satisfy such requirements.
On the other hand, when printing is effected by using such a composite thermal transfer sheet, printing trace remains on the thermal transfer sheet after printing. Therefore, when the printed information is secret, the secret is leaked due to the printing trace of the used thermal transfer sheet.
Further, in the case of the co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet, both of the thermal transfer film and the transfer-receiving material are discharged from a printer and cut so as to provide an appropriate length thereof. In such a case, the composite thermal transfer sheet is charged due to friction in a period of from the preparation thereof to the use thereof, during conveyance thereof in the printer, and at the time of printing. On the basis of such charging, the resistance of a thermal head is changed at the time of printing, and the thermal head is erroneously driven due to discharge so that the resultant printed letters are disturbed. Further, when the thermal transfer film is peeled from the paper after the discharge thereof from the printer, the thermal transfer film is charged in most cases. Therefore, the peeled thermal transfer film clings to the transfer-receiving material, or a printer, or a desk, clothes, etc., and it is quite troublesome to deal with it.
In general, the thermal transfer film may easily be peeled from the transfer-receiving material. Therefore, in the end portion thereof, the thermal transfer film may easily be peeled from the transfer-receiving material so that it is not suitably fed to the printer, or the thermal transfer film is bent or wrinkled. As a result, there is posed a problem good printed letters cannot be obtained.
Further, in the above-mentioned co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet, when the transfer-receiving sheet is thick, the diameter of the roll thereof inevitably becomes large and such a roll cannot be housed in a compact printer. From such a viewpoint, there is proposed a sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet which has been cut into a desired size thereof, such as so-called xe2x80x9cA-sizexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cB-sizexe2x80x9d (Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. 161757/1988, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 258989/1989). In this case, however, the thermal transfer sheet is very easily peeled from the transfer-receiving material as compared with the co-winding type roll so as to cause some troubles such that the composite sheet is difficult to be fed to a printer, the thermal transfer sheet deviates from the transfer-receiving material at the time of printing, either one of them is bent, etc.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet which is capable of providing two sets of printed letters corresponding to one sheet thereof, and is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining, and is free of troubles of paper feeding and printing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining, and is free of troubles of paper feeding and printing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining, and is free of problems caused by the used thermal transfer film.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in long-term storage property, conveying resistance, etc.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a package of a sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in moisture resistance.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising; a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the temporary adhesive layer comprises adhesive particles having a low glass transition temperature, wax particles and resin particles having a high glass transition temperature.
According to the above-mentioned first aspect of the present invention there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet wherein the thermal transfer sheet is firmly bonded to the transfer-receiving material so as not to cause wrinkles or deviation, both of these members may easily be peeled from each other so that the ink layer is exactly transferred to the transfer-receiving material in a transfer region and it is not transferred thereto at all in a non-transfer region, whereby the transfer-receiving material is not contaminated.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising: a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein at least one selected from interface between the respective layers, interiors thereof and surfaces thereof has been subjected to an antistatic treatment.
According to the above-mentioned second aspect of the present invention there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining, and is free of troubles of sheet feeding and printing.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising; a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the temporary adhesive layer comprises adhesive particles having a low glass transition temperature, wax particles and resin particles having a high glass transition temperature, and at least one selected from interfaces between the respective layers, interiors thereof and surfaces thereof has been subjected to an antistatic treatment.
According to the above-mentioned third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet, wherein the thermal transfer sheet is firmly bonded to the transfer-receiving material so as not to cause wrinkles or deviation, both of these members may easily be peeled from each other so that the ink layer is exactly transferred to the transfer-receiving material in a transfer region and it is not transferred thereto at all in a non-transfer region, whereby the transfer-receiving material is not contaminated, and troubles of sheet feeding and printing are obviated.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising; a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the temporary adhesive layer comprises a wax and an adhesive resin having a low glass transition temperature.
According to the above-mentioned fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet wherein the thermal transfer sheet is firmly bonded to the transfer-receiving material so as not to cause wrinkles or deviation, both of these members may easily be peeled from each other so that the ink layer is exactly transferred to the transfer-receiving material in a transfer region and it is not transferred thereto at all in a non-transfer region, whereby the transfer-receiving material is not contaminated.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite-thermal transfer sheet comprising; a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and two heat-fusible ink layers disposed on both sides thereof; a set of transfer-receiving materials; and temporary adhesive layers capable of peelably bonding each of the heat-fusible ink layers of the thermal transfer sheet to the corresponding transfer-receiving materials.
According to the above-mentioned fifth aspect of the present invention, two printed matters are simultaneously provided corresponding to one printing operation.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising: a sheet-type thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material having substantially the same size as that of the sheet-type thermal transfer sheet; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the thermal transfer sheet is fixed to the transfer-receiving material on at least one of the end portions thereof.
According to the above-mentioned sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet whereby unintended peeling is prevented, paper-feeding to a printer is facilitated, and various troubles in the printer are prevented.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising: a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof: a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the thermal transfer sheet is fixed to the transfer-receiving material at the end portion of the outside of a roll of the thermal transfer sheet.
According to the above-mentioned seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided a co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet which is excellent in bonding property and peeling property, and provides printed letters having a good resolution without ground staining, and is free of troubles of paper feeding and printing.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising: a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the thermal transfer sheet is fixed to a tube for the winding thereof at the end portion of the outside of a roll of the thermal transfer sheet.
According to the above-mentioned eighth aspect of the present invention, the thermal transfer sheet may be wound up simultaneously with the printing operation, and therefore the used thermal transfer sheet is easy to be handled and no problem occurs in secret-keeping.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising: a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof; a transfer-receiving material; and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material, wherein the transfer-receiving material has a rigidity of 20 to 2500 gf/cm.
According to the above-mentioned ninth aspect of the present invention, the thermal transfer sheet is firmly bonded to the transfer-receiving material so as not to cause wrinkles or deviation, both of these members may easily be peeled from each other so that the ink layer is exactly transferred to the transfer-receiving material in a transfer region and it is not transferred thereto at all in a non-transfer region, whereby the transfer-receiving material is not contaminated.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package of a composite thermal transfer sheet comprising the composite thermal transfer sheet wound around a cylindrical core into a roll form, a container having openings on both sides and being capable of housing the roll, and a retention member for retaining the roll hung in the container; the composite thermal transfer sheet comprising a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof, a transfer-receiving material, and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material; wherein the inside shape of the cylindrical core has substantially the same shape as that of the openings disposed on both sides of the container, the retention member comprises a flange portion and a projection, and the projection is inserted into the opening of the container and the inside of the cylindrical core.
According to the above-mentioned tenth aspect of the present invention, the co-winding type composite thermal transfer sheet is disposed so as to be hung in a package, and transfer of the ink layer due to impact or the weight thereof are prevented.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bag-type package comprising a humidity resistance-imparted bag and a composite thermal transfer sheet housed therein, the composite thermal transfer sheet comprising a sheet-type thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate film and a heat-fusible ink layer disposed on one surface side thereof, a transfer-receiving material having substantially the same size as that of the sheet-type thermal transfer sheet, and a temporary adhesive layer capable of peelably bonding the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet to the transfer-receiving material.
According to the above-mentioned eleventh aspect of the present invention, the sheet-type composite thermal transfer sheet is housed in a moisture resistance-imparted bag-type container, whereby a problem of curl due to moisture absorption may be solved.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.